British writer and iconoclastic Christopher Hitchens who courted controversy by branding late Nobel laureate Mother Teresa “a fanatic and fraud” has died after a battle against cancer.

British writer and iconoclastic Christopher Hitchens who courted controversy by branding late Nobel laureate Mother Teresa “a fanatic and fraud” has died after a battle against cancer.

Hitchens, who began his journalistic career in the UK before finding fame in US, was diagnosed with the disease in 2010 and had documented his declining health in his column for the Vanity Fair.

Announcing his death, Vanity Fair described the writer as “incomparable critic, fiery wit and fearless born vivant”.

In his book The Missionary Position and a documentary called Hell’s Angel, Hitchens accused Mother Teresa of being a political opportunist who struck friendships with dictators and corrupt financiers in exchange for donations to her order.